tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-78698732008-07-06T12:34:03.558-04:00Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17502248241093670156noreply@blogger.comBlogger720125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7869873.post-7421204813139503582008-07-02T08:25:00.003-04:002008-07-02T09:11:23.373-04:00

When I faced this concept I didn't know the decision would come so easily. See... There is a deep stubborn streak in me that comes from a long generation of stubborn people. The two sides of this coin are well known to me. Giving up is not in my understanding. Letting go has always been a difficult task. This blog has been through many transformations. All reflect those going ons in me. It has

Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17502248241093670156noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7869873.post-27945568401982503932008-06-20T16:28:00.003-04:002008-06-20T17:12:02.829-04:00

I don't understand people. I suspect many people say that about me too. On my way to work I continually watch drivers do stupid things simply to gain a few seconds. Or more appropriately steal a few seconds from other drivers as they cut them off to get ahead of them. I just don't understand. _____________________________________ My In-laws live on top of a mountain with just a few neighbors

Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17502248241093670156noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7869873.post-50093054227193029532008-06-14T16:33:00.002-04:002008-06-14T16:47:48.649-04:00

The toughest part of a lot of things is just getting started. I realized my foolishness and resistance of things as I stood on the deck facing a cold pool. A hot and humid day was not enough to help me overcome my hesitation. My mind firmly clued to the sensation of plunging into that cold water and feeling it cut into me. I faced the negative and let it win. My youngest was already in. I had

Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17502248241093670156noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7869873.post-82679747782834102302008-05-27T16:37:00.003-04:002008-05-28T17:33:53.359-04:00

Just a block from where I work there is a hotel under construction. For the past four months I have driven by it multiple times a day. I've witnessed the step by step construction. Steel here and brick there. Windows and roof joists. Cranes and bulldozers. Activity with a purpose. As I drive by I always make sure to check out the construction crew's progress. I look forward to seeing what has

Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17502248241093670156noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7869873.post-81160043695931176432008-05-18T21:15:00.002-04:002008-05-18T22:09:45.286-04:00

There is a slow steady pestering in the back of my mind. The thought is one of sink holes. Maybe it was that news story I saw a few weeks ago. I image it is more of the fact that I tend to see associations in most things. I suppose I want to believe that everything in life is linked. So sink holes... It makes me think about how sometimes you think you are walking on solid ground. Suddenly the

Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17502248241093670156noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7869873.post-51497249623829317132008-05-11T22:00:00.003-04:002008-05-11T23:25:03.860-04:00

It is always a nice place to be when you can tell somebody how much you admire and love them and you see that it produces a glow of warmth in them. Mother's Day and Christmas. Birthday's and Anniversaries. Special days that bring forth memories of those special bonds that we have created. They are all opportunities that allow us to open our hearts and let them flow with our feelings. How is your

Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17502248241093670156noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7869873.post-46747464448957961942008-05-09T09:27:00.003-04:002008-05-09T12:35:16.222-04:00

I see time as a river sweeping us all along. Parts of the river are wide and deep and the journey is slow and peaceful. These parts are usually straight and wide open affording us a view that stretches for years or sometimes decades. It is easy to forget the power that pulls us. Time like the river meanders and flows through all sorts of terrain. Parts will twist and turn like a lazy summer day.

Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17502248241093670156noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7869873.post-53070909634949044372008-04-30T13:18:00.002-04:002008-04-30T16:57:05.542-04:00

I took the back roads into work this morning. It takes me longer but there is a relaxing way about it. It started as a camera thing. You can't take many photos going seventy miles an hour. So after a long day at work when I felt overwhelmed and stressed I would take the long way home. I'd have my camera in hand in hope of finding some inspiration. There were times when I was at the right place

Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17502248241093670156noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7869873.post-63717169487837467282008-04-24T12:21:00.003-04:002008-04-24T13:15:52.590-04:00

Life has a way of sometimes giving you a narrow path to walk. You need to shuffle your feet at times to keep that precarious balance that prevents you from losing yourself over the edge. Concentrating on such a narrow path gives you the illusion that you are walking alone. You spend a lot of time watching your feet and lose some of the splendor of that view that caresses you along your journey.

Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17502248241093670156noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7869873.post-41925178232290341042008-04-13T19:29:00.003-04:002008-04-13T20:04:40.371-04:00

Take a walk around the block. Feel the way your foot falls on the sidewalk and listen to the sounds of all that life going on around you. Sometimes things progress like the pattern of a typical block in a suburban community. The rows of houses like the hypnotic strum of your windshield wipers on a hot summer night with a light mist in the air. The sounds and motion trying real hard to pull you

Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17502248241093670156noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7869873.post-77283307227018262352008-04-08T12:50:00.002-04:002008-04-08T14:49:47.465-04:00

Governmental Condemnation... A fancy term that allows the government the ability to steal from the poor and give to the rich just so they can hold their hands out and receive their share from the powers that be. You may know of this process by it's sister name... Eminent Domain. Although both are still theft in my mind, one at least pretends to be about the greater good. Eminent Domain

Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17502248241093670156noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7869873.post-36384091262390096122008-03-31T14:25:00.003-04:002008-03-31T14:34:54.683-04:00

The other day we were sitting at the dinner table talking and my youngest was whining about having TWO vegetables for dinner. This certainly was not fair. I told him that it was to make up for the previous day because he didn't have any right? He thought about it for a moment and then agreed. We had eaten pizza the night before and I had wondered if he would claim the tomatoes on the pizza as a

Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17502248241093670156noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7869873.post-5309343391684759542008-03-19T16:17:00.002-04:002008-03-19T16:03:58.450-04:00

I certainly have not been very disciplined about writing. I know when I started this blog that part of the reason was to develop some better writing habits. (and skills!) That didn't happen. In fact most of the things that I reasoned at the time didn't happen either. Even a lot of the things that I encountered along the way were simply in my imagination. When I try to think back to the

Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17502248241093670156noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7869873.post-91653402652641849252008-03-04T09:36:00.004-05:002008-03-04T13:02:33.876-05:00

I was reading a book and came across a concept that I have looked at a number of times. One character was ranting at another character and basically claiming that once a... always a... It bothered me. Deeply. Not only had I ridden along with both of these people and had seen their strengths and weaknesses, I thought that I understood the forces that were pulling each of them this way and that.

Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17502248241093670156noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7869873.post-78491203065427489832008-02-28T15:51:00.002-05:002008-02-28T16:18:15.288-05:00

Some things are amazing and at the same time a bit unnerving. Like today... I drove by your house. Well... If you aren't aware that Google maps now has a "Street View" feature you need to check it out. Google maps. Pick an address. Maybe your own. Click on the "Street View" tab and if its available you'll see your house as if you were driving by it. Not all areas are available. My house

Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17502248241093670156noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7869873.post-32737956109841394492008-02-26T10:30:00.002-05:002008-02-26T15:03:15.495-05:00

There is a book out there that I haven't read but I think I want to. It's called Blink. Maybe you have read it or one of Malcolm Gladwell's other books. It is amazing at how many decisions or how many thoughts are based on the thinnest of information. A bit scary too. How many votes are cast by people who have no real understanding of where a candidate stands on important issues? How many bets

Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17502248241093670156noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7869873.post-5808919662451099582008-02-21T16:08:00.001-05:002008-02-21T16:08:26.651-05:00

Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17502248241093670156noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7869873.post-74495390515146865882008-02-20T09:17:00.003-05:002008-02-20T10:33:08.572-05:00

Little things have a way of being a big deal. I won't go into a discussion on whether we make them so or if they truly are. I also don't want to get tangled up discussing parental choices even though I clearly make some to provide the love and respect that my children deserve. Instead... I just want to recount a situation that was indeed a little thing that meant the world to me. ...Indoor

Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17502248241093670156noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7869873.post-34514305268410636022008-02-12T14:18:00.000-05:002008-02-12T16:27:19.965-05:00

Since the beginning of the year I have turned more than 3,000 pages in a tower of books. It has been decades since I have been such a voracious reader. I am not submitting this as a competition because I know compared to many this is hardly a drop. What I do acknowledge is that changes are indicative of natural forces. Some of those forces may be as apparent as the rushing front four on a

Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17502248241093670156noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7869873.post-62045541856039766082008-02-10T21:23:00.000-05:002008-02-10T22:21:21.429-05:00

Recently my youngest participated in his school's spelling bee. It was quite the event with a lot of excited kids lined up competing for the crown. The competition was for all fourth to sixth graders. I was impressed by the way that the school handled the competition. The first word each kid spelled was their own name. It gave the kids the opportunity to go up on stage and use a microphone and

Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17502248241093670156noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7869873.post-40585945840063667722008-02-04T15:21:00.000-05:002008-02-04T17:30:34.401-05:00

Sometime bizarre things just strike you. It happens to everyone. I do believe it happens to me more a bit more often however. Like the other day. I was shuffling along still a bit dazed and tender. I had taken my son to get a haircut and we were heading out of the mall. My gaze was fixed downward instead of my normal heavenly attraction. There along the cold cement walk at the entrance of the

Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17502248241093670156noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7869873.post-64111541466226444202008-02-02T16:53:00.000-05:002008-02-02T17:02:18.194-05:00

There is something about two days of fever induced unconsciousness that makes you see reality a bit differently. It was almost as if I was transported to another dimension. The stream of events were so vivid even as they now fade like the vapors of captured sea air when you open the jar you gathered them in. There was a sequence of time and events. There was purpose and direction. Characters

Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17502248241093670156noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7869873.post-44740531010761242032008-01-28T10:46:00.000-05:002008-01-28T15:31:13.351-05:00

How do you explain things that you really don't understand yourself? Some things just are... You can think about them and try to unravel the mechanics of their movement. Like walking. You can describe the one foot after another. That you push off from the toes and set down on the heel. There is a flex to the leg muscle as you stretch it forward to gain some distance. Walking. It's just walking

Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17502248241093670156noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7869873.post-78634580799831551312008-01-23T17:11:00.000-05:002008-01-23T17:15:05.199-05:00

Who turned out the lights?

Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17502248241093670156noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7869873.post-71879964242548444322008-01-22T08:23:00.000-05:002008-01-22T16:42:07.617-05:00

I've been tagged by Tara The rules are as follows: Link to the person that tagged you. Post the rules on your blog. Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself. Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs. Let each random person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website. Here’s my contribution to the game: 1. I have the power

Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17502248241093670156noreply@blogger.com